Near Field Communication, abbreviated “NFC”, is a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology enabling exchange of data between devices within a relative short distance, for instance, about 10 centimeters. NFC is based on RFID (radio frequency identification) and combines an interface of a smartcard and a reader into a single device. NFC devices can communicate with RFID readers and with other NFC devices and may, for instance, be mobile phones.
Business opportunities presented by using NFC enabled mobile devices, such as mobile phones, for, for instance, contactless payment, transport ticketing, loyalty and other services may be of interest, for instance, for mobile operators and service providers in the banking, transport and retail sectors.
For addressing operational requirements, NFC utilizes a so called Trusted Service Manger (TSM) which is supposed to help service providers to securely distribute and manage, for instance, contactless services for their customers utilizing networks of mobile operators. FIG. 1 illustrates how a Trusted Service Manager Backend 1 is conventionally used to transmit an NFC application 9 issued by a service provider web site 2 to a mobile telephone 3 comprising NFC capability.
If the service provider wants to issue the NFC application 9 to the mobile phone 3, he connects his service provider web site 2 to the mobile phone 3 through the Trusted Service Manager Backend 1. The Trusted Service Manager Backend 1 establishes a secure channel to transmit the NFC application 9 over the air OTA to the mobile phone 3 which includes an appropriate interface which is, for instance, a GSM interface not explicitly shown in the figures.
The mobile phone 3 comprises a proxy 4, a secure application 5, also known as “wallet”, to present information about NFC applications already installed on the mobile phone 3 to the user of the mobile phone 3, an NFC module including a Service Manager 6 and a memory 7 to store the NFC application.
It is an object of the invention to provide an alternative method to transfer an NFC application to an NFC device.